Players have discovered that hidden stats (largely) match those of the games, giving us insight into how Pokémon rank according to their highest Attack, Defense and HP (hit points, health or stamina).

As you can imagine, rare Pokemon and Legendaries tend to top the list, but there are a few surprise entries throughout each one to look out for.

It should be noted, crucially, that base stats and CP aren't everything.

As any Pokémon veteran will tell you, the right moveset is just as important as the right numbers for Attack and Defense, which is also why we have a best Pokémon tier list first - which includes calculations on how a Pokémon's respective movesets combine with their offensive and defensive stats for the highest damage over the course of a battle.

A quick note, before diving in, to say that this page is now fully up to date with the February 2018 meta.

Pokémon Go Tier List - the best attacking Pokémon and best defending Pokémon right now

This Tier List is 'editorialised' approach, rather than a ranking of Pokémon by their highest DPS movesets or defensive stats, meaning our own experiences, knowledge, and judgement come into play here as well as the raw stats.

That being said, several sources have been extremely useful for helping us decide: GamePress, PoGomoves, and Gameinfo in particular have all approached the situation in different ways, with calculations varying in depth from complete matchup simulations to more simple attacking and defending DPS calculations, and plenty in between.

We recommend you give all of the above a look if you're on the hunt for an even more detailed breakdown of the information at hand - but be warned, it gets complex!

Below, we'll take into account all of the above, along with our own understanding of the general metagame climate as things stand - that means that whilst, say, Alakazam may rank near the very top for raw damage output with Confusion and Future Sight, it may not rank as highly in our tier list because of some flimsy defences and lack of type coverage.

Pokémon Go Attackers Tier List

Rank

Pokémon

Quick Move

Special Move

Best vs.

Reasoning

1

Mewtwo

Confusion

Shadow Ball

Many

Mewtwo is still just about the best all-rounder, with higher Attack and bulk compared to Rayquaza, even without perfect moves.

2

Rayquaza

Dragon Tail

Outrage

Many

An exceptional move pairing and massive Attack stat put Rayquaza out on top of the dragons, although beware double-weakness Ice-type moves.

3

Dragonite

Dragon Tail

Outrage

Many

Strong against almost everything, high bulk as well as offense. Outrage just puts it above Salamence.

4

Salamence

Dragon Tail

Draco Meteor

Many

Very similar to Dragonite only a tad less bulky, but higher base Attack. Importance of survivability in the meta puts it just below its fellow dragon for now.

5

Machamp

Counter

Dynamic Punch

Blissey, Snorlax, Lapras, Tyranitar, Rhydon

Super-relevant because of its strength against many Raid bosses and regular defenders in the meta. Fastest Pokémon to take down Blissey.

6

Tyranitar

Bite

Stone Edge

Many

Strong against almost everything, but with a few more weaknesses than Dragonite. Struggles vs. Hariyama

7

Alakazam

Confusion

Future Sight

Fighting and Poison-types

A true glass cannon, with amazing DPS but very low survivability. Needs to be high level.

8

Kyogre

Waterfall

Hydro Pump

Fire, Rock and Ground-types

Rock and Ground is still very common in defenders, as well as surprisingly high Attack, Kyogre has the bulk to save you some much-needed Revives.

9

Moltres

Fire Spin

Overheat

Grass, Steel, Ice, Bug-types

The best pure Fire-type with added benefits of part-Flying type resistance to Grass and Bug-types.

10

Raikou

Thunder Shock

Wild Charge

Flying and Water-types

Gyarados and other Water-types are common defenders, and Raikou's the best pure Electric attacker right now.

Pokémon Go Defenders Tier List

Rank

Pokémon

Quick Move

Special Move

Best vs.

Reasoning

1

Blissey

Zen Headbutt

Dazzling Gleam

Many

Still the best out there. Almost any moveset outranks any other Pokémon. Takes an age to defeat and even whittles down those which counter.

2

Snorlax

Zen Headbutt

Hyper Beam

Many

Like Blissey but just a slightly faster to take down - still better than more DPS-focused defenders.

3

Slaking

Yawn

Play Rough

Many

A weird one, with crazy high Attack and CP in particular, which keeps the gym "tall" for longer thus deterring attackers. Best coupled with Blissey/Snorlax.

4

Gardevoir

Confusion

Dazzling Gleam

Many

Move coverage and lack of Steel- and Poison-type attackers makes this a surprisingly strong pick.

A double-weakness to Electric, but not many attackers use it. Flexible attacks but countered by Tyranitar.

7

Tyranitar

Iron Tail

Crunch

Many

Bulky and high in Attack, but double-weakness to Machamp is an issue.

8

Slowbro/King

Confusion

Ice Beam / Fire Blast

Many, including Machamp

Another Machamp counter that forces attackers to rotate.

9

Lapras

Frost Breath

Ice Beam

Dragonite, Many

Weak quick move, can struggle vs. Tyranitar and Machamp, but counters the common Dragonite well.

10

Rhydon

Mud-Slap

Earthquake

Many, especially Electric-types

A nice counter to Electric-type attackers that might be used against Gyarados, Slowbro and King, and Lapras

Those are our editorial choices for the game's best creatures. But if you're curious about raw stats, the following tables will be of interest.

Best Pokémon by highest Attack stat in Pokémon Go

The following list is up to date with all Gen 3 Pokémon released so far, which is almost all of them barring a few Legendaries and outliers.

Rank

Pokémon

Attack stat

1

Mewtwo

300

2

Slaking

290

3

Rayquaza

284

4

Salamence

277

5

Alakazam

271

6

Kyogre

270

7

Groudon

270

8

Dragonite

263

9

Espeon

261

10

Gengar

261

11

Metagross

257

12

Zapdos

253

13

Tyranitar

251

14

Moltres

251

15

Flareon

246

16

Absol

246

17

Sharpedo

243

18

Raikou

241

19

Breloom

241

20

Blaziken

240

21

Kingler

240

22

Ho-Oh

239

23

Pinsir

238

24

Gardevoir

237

25

Gyarados

237

Best Pokémon by highest Defense stat in Pokémon Go

The following list is up to date with all Gen 3 Pokémon released so far, which is almost all of them barring a few Legendaries and outliers.

Rank

Pokémon

Defense stat

1

Shuckle

396

2

Steelix

333

3

Lugia

323

4

Cloyster

323

5

Aggron

314

6

Onix

288

7

Ho-Oh

274

8

Mantine

260

9

Skarmory

260

10

Umbreon

250

11

Articuno

249

12

Groudon

251

13

Kyogre

251

14

Metagross

247

15

Forretress

242

16

Milotic

242

17

Lairon

240

18

Tentacruel

237

19

Suicune

235

20

Claydol

236

21

Relicanth

234

22

Dusclops

234

23

Mr. Mime

233

24

Torkoal

234

25

Golem

229

Best Pokémon by highest HP or Stamina in Pokémon Go

The following list is up to date with all Gen 3 Pokémon released so far, which is almost all of them barring a few Legendaries and outliers.

Rank

Pokémon

Stamina stat

1

Blissey

510

2

Chansey

500

3

Wobbuffet

380

4

Wailord

340

5

Snorlax

320

6

Hariyama

288

7

Wigglytuff

280

8

Slaking

273

9

Vaporeon

260

10

Lapras

260

11

Wailmer

260

12

Lanturn

250

13

Entei

230

14

Jigglypuff

230

15

Walrein

220

16

Lugia

212

17

Rydon

210

18

Kangaskan

210

19

Muk

210

20

Exploud

208

21

Swampert

200

22

Suicune

200

23

Tyranitar

200

24

Piloswine

200

25

Noctowl

200

Best Pokémon by max CP in Pokémon Go

The following list is up to date with all Gen 3 Pokémon released so far, which is almost all of them barring a few Legendaries and outliers.

Rank

Pokémon

Max CP

1

Slaking

4548

2

Kyogre

4074

3

Groudon

4074

4

Mewtwo

3982

5

Ho-Oh

3889

6

Tyranitar

3670

7

Rayquaza

3645

8

Metagross

3637

9

Lugia

3598

10

Dragonite

3581

11

Salamence

3532

12

Entei

3377

13

Snorlax

3355

14

Raikou

3349

15

Zapdos

3330

16

Rhydon

3300

17

Gyarados

3281

18

Moltres

3272

19

Blissey

3219

20

Vaporeon

3157

21

Donphan

3022

22

Aggron

3004

23

Espeon

3000

24

Milotic

2967

25

Gardevoir

2964

Note that the stats above do change on a semi-frequent basis with Niantic's patches to Pokémon Go but, at the time of writing, are accurate according to the datamining and formulae found by the community.

What do these 'best Pokémon' lists tell us?

We know that Legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza, plus the other first, second and third Generation Legendary counterparts like Mewtwo, Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, Kyogre, Groudon, the legendary dogs and so on are some of the most powerful in the game, and are worth capturing when we get the chance.

The most powerful non-legendary is frequently changing, thanks to the influx of Gen 3 Pokémon.

While Slaking has the highest CP, outside of specialised Gym defence other non-legendaries like Dragonite, Salamence, and Tyranitar are generally far more useful.

Starter Pokémon are gradually becoming less relevant to the meta, but the likes of Blaziken can still hold their own.

Not every Pokémon who ranks in high up on one stat type does so in others. Blissey, for example, has by far the highest Stamina / HP of any creature in the game, but suffers in other areas so it fails to list elsewhere, and you should always bear that in mind when building your squad for attacking or defending Gyms.